Liquid pressure equalizer



Feb 27, 1934- .1. A. LUPI-'ER LIQUID PRESSURE EQUALIZER 5 sheets-sheet 1 Filed June 4, 1932 E 0 L 1 WS e 5 6 m 71 Hf l e 1 l 1 1 illnlwf/ammwww/A 4 1 n. 2 Q vii, L

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Feb. 27, 1934. 1 A, LUPFER 1,948,988

LIQUID PRESSURE EQUALI ZER Filed June 4, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet- 2 s I i l s n l i d IN VEN TOR JfLUPr-ER.

Feb. 2 7, 1934.

J. A. LUPFER LIQUID PRESSURE EQUALIZER Filed June 4, 1932 11111411zllllllllllllallg'llan lllllr'lnz.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 JHLUPFER..

IN VEN TOR A ORNE Y Patented Feb. 27, 18934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 14 Claims.

This invention relates to pressure equalizers particularly adapted for use in hot oil systems, and an object of the invention is to provide a pressure equalizer adapted to be mounted in the discharge line of the hot oil pumps in an oil system for equalizing the pressure fluctuations of oil or iiuid in the discharge line and by so doing provide a uniform pressure Yat all points in the oil system beyond the location of the equalizer.

More specifically, the present invention provides a pressure equalizer embodying air and liquid plungers so proportioned that relatively low pressure air or gas may be used in balancing the force exerted by the oil pressure on the oil or liquid plunger, and means whereby the force eX- erted by the air plunger is automatically controlled by automatically operated valves, thereby insuring an even pressure of oil or fluid being delivered in the discharge system beyond the location of the equalizer.

Another object of the invention is to provide an equalizer as specified which will absorb pressure variations in the pump discharge lines of oil systems, thereby making it possible to operate the systems at materially higher pressures in the hot oil discharge lines, and with a greater factor of safety.

With these and other objects in View, as may appear from the accompanying specification, the invention consists of various features of construction and combination of parts, which will be first described in connection with the accompanying drawings. showing a pressure equalizer of the preferred form embodying the invention, and the features forming the invention will be speciiically pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the improved pressure equalizer.

Figure 2 is a view, in side elevation and partly in section, of the equalizer, and taken at right angles to the section shown in Figure 1 of the drawings.

Figure 3 is a horizontal section through the equalizer taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a cross section through the equalizer taken on the line 4--4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a cross section taken on the line 5'5 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is ahorizontal section taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 1.

Figure '7 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a detailed section taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a detailed vertical section taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 6.

Figure 10 is a detailed vertical section taken on the line 10--10 of Figure 9, and

Figure 11 is a cross section taken on the line 11-11 of Figure 9.

Figures 3 to 11 inclusive are made upon a slightly larger scale than are Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the improved pressure equalizer comprises a casing or main body l which has a flange 2 upon its lower end for connection with a corresponding flange 3 in the discharge line (a fragment of which is shown at 4 in Figure 1 of the drawings) of an oil system. The flange 3 is provided with an opening 5 having communication with the interior of the discharge line 4 andv with the bore 6 of the equalizer housing 1.

The bore 6 of the equalizer housing 1 has a plunger 7 mounted for reciprocatory movement therein. The plunger '7 has an annular shoulder 8 thereon which is adapted to seat against the annular seat 9 formed in the bore 6 for limiting the downward movement of the plunger. The plunger 7 has a tapered projection 10 upon its lower end below the shoulder 8, which serves to restrict the opening through which the oil or liquid will have to pass before the plunger comes in contact with the seat 9, thereby providing a cushioning action for the seating of the plunger to prevent pounding of the plunger on its seat.

The oil or liquid operated plunger '7 passes upwardly through the cylindrical sleeve 11 of the housing 1 and has a head 12 formed upon its upper end over which the skirt 13 of the air or gas plunger 14 engages.

The air or gas plunger 14 reciprocates in the air or gas chamber 15 and its upward movement is limited by the seat 16 against which the annular shoulder 1'7 of the piston 14 is adapted to engage. The plunger 14 has a reduced upper portion 18 which serves the same purpose as the reduced portion 16 of the plunger 7, namely, it prevents the pounding of the plunger 14 against its seat 16. A suitable stuffing box structure 19 is provided for preventing the leakage of air or gas from the chamber 15 past the piston into the main enlarged body 20 of the housing 1, and the action of the stuffing box 19 is further augmented by means of a liquid seal 21 which may be oil or any other suitable liquid. A suitable stuning box 22 is provided for preventing the leakage of the hot oil or other uid from the bore 6 into the housing 20 and this stuffing box has a lantern gland 23 therein which has communication with suitable lubricant supply pipes 24. The pro- Vision of the lubricant supply pipes 24 and the lantern gland or metallic spacer 23 permits lubricating oil to engage the outer surface of the plunger 7, to insure proper lubrication of the packing 22 and the liquid plunger. An outlet or second opening 25 is provided so that if it is necessary cold lubricant can be circulated around the liquid plunger '7 to assist in the cooling of this plunger and to insure the proper lubrication oi the plunger and the packing 22. The oil seal 21 also serves to lubricate the air plunger 14.

The housing 1 is provided with a water jacket 26 about the sleeve 11 and cooling water enters the water jacket 26 through the inlet opening 27. All of this cooling water passes upwardly through a tube 28 carried by the plunger head 12. The cooling water which passes upwardly through the tube 28 passes outwardly through the transverse opening 29 in the head 30 of the tube, through a suitable transverse opening 31 in the plunger head 12 and into the opening 32 in `the head 33 of the return tube 34. The tube 34 extends longitudinally and axially within the bore 3.5 of the liquid plunger 7 and the cooling water which passes downwardly through this tube 34 enters the bore 35 and passes upwardly through the bore 35 exteriorly of the tube 34 into a chamber 36 from which it passes through a suitable duct 37 into the transverse opening 38 in the head 39. The head 39 is formed upon the return tube 40. The return tube 40 extends downwardly in the water jacket 26 so that the water which flows therethrough returns to the jacket and leaves the jacket through the water outlet 4l. The tubes 28 and 40 are disposed upon opposite sides of the axis of the housing l, as clearly shown in Figures 6 and 7 of the drawings. The tubes 28, 34 and 40 and their corresponding heads 33 and 39 are inserted in proper position through openings or recesses in the top of the plunger head 12 and are retained therein by suitable cover plates 42.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that a plunger 7 which is acted upon by the hot oil will be effectively and efficiently cooled by the circulation of the cooling water or cooling medium through the cooling jacket 216 and the various tubes 28, 34 and 40.

By particular reference to Figure 1 of the drawings, it will be noted that the air or gas plunger 14 is much larger in diameter than the hot oil or liquid plunger 7 and this proportioning of the relative sizes or active areas of the plungers permits the use of relatively low pressure air or gas in balancing the force exerted by the pressure of the oil on the smaller diameter liquid plunger, and the force exerted by the air plunger is automatically controlled by varying the air or gas pressure in the air chamber or cylinder 15 in the following manner.

The plunger head 12 has cams 43 and 44 adjustably connected thereto by means of threaded stems and these cams 43 and 44 reciprocate in suitable closed cylinders 46 and 47 respectively, which project into the cooling jacket 26 and extend above the upper wall 48 of the cooling chamber. As clearly shown in Figures 1G and 11 of the drawings, the cams 43 and 44 are cylindrical in shape and have longitudinally extending cut-out portions 49 therein, forming the cam surfaces 50 which gradually taper outwardly to the outer surface of the cams. The cam 43 has the inclined cam surface 50 at the top of the cam, while the cam` surface 50 of the cam 44 is at the bottom of the cam for the pui"- poses hereinafter more fully pointed out. The cam surfaces 50 are engaged by the stems 51 and 52 respectively. The stems 51 and 52 are connected to valves 53 and 54 respectively which are normally maintained upon their seats by means of springs 55 and 56. The valves 53 and 54 are carried by a valve block 57 which is attached to the housing 1 by a suitable attaching plate 58.

The cams 43 and 44, being fastened to the plunger head 12 which is in turn attached to the plunger 14 in any suitable manner as by bolts 59, travel with both the air and oil or liquid plungers 14 and 7, and are adjustable relative to the plunger head 12 to permit adjustment of the positions of their cam surfaces 50.

When the force exerted by the pressure of the gas or air in the cylinder or chamber 15 exceeds the force exerted by the oil or uid on theplunger 7, both plungers will travel downwardly towards the liquid plunger seat 9, but before reaching this seat, the cam 43 will come in contact with the stem 51 of the valve 53, and the stem moving over the inclined portion of the cam surface 50 and along the outer surface of the cam, will open the valve 53 and allow air or gas to escape from the cylinder or chamber 15 through the relief line 60, thereby lowering the pressure in the cylinder or chamber 15 until the force exerted by the air plunger 14 is less than the force exerted by the liquid or oil plunger 7, at which time both plungers will move in a reverse direction or in the direction of the air plunger seat, compressing the air and gas in the cylinder 15 until the air and oil forces are in equilibrium.

When the force against the liquid plunger 7 exceeds the force against the air or gas' plunger 14, both plungers will move toward the air plunger seat, but before the seat is reached the stem 52A of the valve 54 will have moved into engagement with the inclined portion of the cam surface 50 of the cam 44 which will open the valve 54 and admit air or gas from an outside source, through the pipe 62 into the passage 63 in the valve chest 57 and outwardly through the passage 63 and pipe 64 into the chamber or cylinder 15. The valve 54 will remain open until suicient additional air or gas has been admitted to the cylinder 15 to build up the pressure therein to a point sufficient to make the force exerted by the air plunger greater than the force exerted by the liquid plunger, at which time the air plunger will move away from its seat 16 and permit the valve 54 to close.

A check valve 65 is placed in the connecting passage 63 between the valve 54 and the pipe 64 to prevent the passage of air or gas from the cylinder or chamber 15 back through the supply system to the outside source of supply of air or gas, should the pressure in the cylinder 15 be-v come higher than the pressure of the air or gasl in the outside source of supply.

A bypass 66 is provided between the duct or passageway 63 and the relief passage 60 and a hand-operated valve 67 is provided for controlling this bypass 66. A second hand-operated valve 68 is provided in the passage or duct 63. The handoperated valves 67 and 68 are provided to permit manual adjustment of the position of the plungers 7 and 14, by removing air from the cylinder 15 through adjustment of the valve 67 or introducing additional air or gas into the chamber 15 by manual operation of the valve 68.

The space within the housing 1 between the air plunger 14 and the liquid plunger 7 is enclosed by removable plates 70 sealing the enlarged space 71 in the housing 1 so as to permit the introduction of steam or inert gas through a suitable inlet opening 72 for the purpose of preventing re or explosion should any of the hot oil leak past the plunger 7 and stuing box-22 intoV the space 21. An opening 73 is provided, which may or may not be closed by any suitable type of closure plug and this opening is provided to permit the removal of any accumulation of oil, water or gas which might otherwise accumulate in the enclosed space 71.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent that a pressure equalizer has been provided which` is particularly adaptable for use in hot oil systems, which equalizer, if placed in the discharge line of the hot oil, outwardly of the hot oil pumps, will,owing to the maintaining of a balanced relation between the plungers '7 and 14, maintain an even pressure on the fluid being pumped through the discharge line and, by so doing, will also maintain evenly the pressure of fluid passing through the discharge line and consequently will maintain evenly the pressure of the hot oil in the oil system beyond the equalizer.

Also, it will be apparent that an equalizer has been provided which, owing to its cooling and sealing arrangementscan be used with safety and efliciency in the present-day hot oil systems, and that it provides automatic control or variation of the air or gas pressure in the air or gas cylinder and consequently provides automatic control of the balancing action of the plungers.

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specic construction or arrangement of parts sho-wn, but that they may be widely modified within the invention dened by the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an equalizer, a casing, a liquid plunger therein, an air cylinder in said casing, an air plunger in said cylinder and movable with the liquid plunger, means for automatically regulating the pressure in said air cylinder in proportion to the liquid pressure on said liquid plunger for maintaining the plungers in equilibrium, and a cooling jacket in said casing about said liquid plunger, said liquid plunger provided with a cooling liquid receiving bore, and means in said cooling jacket and plunger for causing a circulation of cooling fluid through the cooling jacket and plunger.

2. In a pressure equalizer, a casing, a liquid plunger therein, an air cylinder in said casing, an air plunger movable in said cylinder and movable with the liquid plunger, valves for controlling the pressure of air in said cylinder, stems on said valves, and means operated by movement of said plungers and engaging said stems for operating said valves.

3. In a pressure equalizer, a casing, a liquid plunger therein, an air cylinder in said casing, an air plunger movable in said cylinder and movable with the liquid plunger, valves for controlling the pressure of air in said cylinder, stems on said valves operated by movement of said plungers for operating said valves, and manually operated valves for controlling the pressure of air in said air cylinder independently of the rst named valves.

4. In a pressure equalizer, a casing, a liquid plunger therein, an air cylinder in said casing, an air plunger in said cylinder and movable with said liquid plunger, valves for controlling the pressure of air in said air cylinder, cams operated by movement of said plungers, and means engaging said cams for operating said valves to automatically control the admission of pressure air into said cylinder or its exit from the cylinder.

5. In a pressure equalizer, a casing, a liquid plunger therein, an air cylinder in said casing, an air plunger in said cylinder and movable with said liquid plunger, valves for controlling the pressure of air in said air cylinder, cams operated by movement of said plungers, means engaging said cams for operating said valves to automatically control the admission of pressure air into said cylinder or its exit from the cylinder, and manually operated valves for regulating the position of said plungers independently of said rst named valves.

6. In a pressure equalizer, a casing, a liquid plunger therein, an air cylinder in said casing, an air plunger in said cylinder and movable with said liquid plunger, valves for controlling the pressure of air in said air cylinder, cams operated by movement of said plungers, and means engaging said cams for operating said valves to automatically control the admission of pressure air into said cylinder or its exit from the cylinder, said air plunger being larger in diameter than said liquid plunger'to permit use of air under a lower pressure than the pressure of liquid acting upon the liquid plunger.

'7. In a pressure equalizer, a casing, a liquid plunger therein, an air cylinder in said casing, an air plunger in said cylinder and movable with said liquid plunger, valves for controlling the pressure of air in said air cylinder, cams operated by movement of said plungers, and means engaging said cams for operating said valves to automatically control the admission of pressure air into said cylinder or its exit from the cylinder, a cooling jacket in said casing about said liquid plunger, said liquid plunger provided with 115 a cooling liquid receiving bore, and means in said cooling jacket and plunger for causing a circulation of cooling fluid through the jacket and plunger.

8. In a pressure equalizer, a casing, a liquid 120 plunger therein, an air cylinder in said casing, an air plunger in said cylinder and movable with said liquid plunger, valves for controlling the pressure of air in said air cylinder, stems on said valves and operated by movement of said plungers for operating said valves for automatically regulating the pressure in said air cylinder in accordance with variations of the liquid pressure on said liquid plunger for maintaining the plungers in equilibrium.

9. In a pressure equalizer, a casing, a liquid plunger therein, an air cylinder in said casing, an air plunger in said cylinder and movable with said liquid plunger, valves for controlling the pressure of air in said air cylinder, means operated by movement of said plungers for operating said valves for automatically regulating the pressure in said air cylinder in proportion to the liquid pressure on said liquid plunger for maintaining the plungers in equilibrium, a cooling 140 jacket in said casing about said liquid plunger, said liquid plunger provided with a cooling liquid receiving bore, and means in said e001. ing jacket and plunger for causing a circulation of cooling fluid through the cooling jacket and 145 plunger.

10. In a pressure equalizer, a casing, a liquid plunger therein, an air cylinder in said casing, an air plunger in saidv cylinder and movable with said liquid plunger, valves for controlling the 150 pressure of air in said air cylinder, means operated by movement of said plungers for operating said valves for automatically regulating the pressure in said air cylinder in proportion to the liquid pressure on said liquid plunger for maintaining the plungers in equilibrium, a cooling jacket in said casing about said liquid plunger, said liquid plunger provided with a cooling 'liquid receiving bore, an enlarged head upon said liquid plunger, and tubes carried by said head and extending into said cooling jacket and plunger bore for causing a circulation of cooling fluid through the plunger and cooling jacket.

11. In a pressure equalizer, a casing having a constricted plunger receiving portion, a liquid plunger therein, an air cylinder in said casing, an air plunger in said cylinder and movable with said liquid plunger, the portion of said casing intermediate said air cylinder and said constricted portion being enlarged and provided with ports to permit the admission of steam or inert gas thereinto.

12. In a pressure equalizer, a casing having a constricted plunger receiving portion, a liquid plunger therein, an air cylinder in said casing,

an air plunger in said cylinder and movable with said liquid plunger, the portion of said casing intermediate said air cylinder and said constricted portion being enlarged and provided with ports to admit steam or inert gas thereinto, and means for automatically regulating the pressure 'in said'alr cylinder in accordance with variation of the liquid pressure onsaid liquidvplunge'r.

13. In a' pressure equalizer, a liquid plunger adapted to be acted upon by the liquid the volume and pressure of which is to be equalized, an Vair plunger movable with said liquid plunger, means for applying pressure to said air plunger to counterbalance the liquid pressure against the said liquid plunger, camsl movable with said plungers, and means operated by said cams for automatically regulating the pressure against vsaid air plunger in accordance with variation of the pressure of liquid against the said liquid plunger.

14. In a pressure equalizer, a liquid plunger "adapted to be acted upon by the liquid the volume and pressure of which is to be equalized, an air plunger movable with said liquid plunger, means for applying pressure to said air plunger to counterbalance the liquid pressure against the said liquid plunger, cams movable with said plungers, and means operated by said cams for automatically regulating the pressure against said air plunger in accordance with variation of the pressure of liquid against the said liquid plunger, said lair plunger being larger in diameter than said liquid plunger to permit use of air under a lower pressure than the pressure of the liquid acting upon the liquid plunger.

JAMES A. LUPFER. 

